Chinese Social Media Fans Wish Coca-Cola a Happy 127th Birthday

Being around for 127 years is no mean
feat and Coca-Cola China decided to celebrate the anniversary by using popular
social platforms to throw a party.

A Chinese Coca-Cola fan posted an image of a birthday cake dedicated to the Company on Weibo.

A celebratory video
dedicated to the Company’s birthday was uploaded by a Chinese fan and sparked a
social media buzz. Around 6,500 loyal fans tweeted Coca-Cola a happy 127th
birthday on May 8 via Sina and Tencent Weibo (Twitter’s Chinese counterpart),
RenRen (Chinese Facebook), Youku (Chinese Youtube), WeChat and BBS. Aficionados
posted heartfelt messages, poems and articles, photos of birthday cakes and
cards they had bought to commemorate the day and even images of the number 127
made out of Coca-Cola bottle caps.

“They
(internet users) were more willing to see Coca-Cola’s social media presence
personified. This personification is friendlier; it is emotional and can be
engaged directly in conversations,” said Amy Chen, iMarketing Director of
Coca-Cola China. “Every company has a different mission to fulfill in this
social media age. Unlike many brands, Coca-Cola does not face pressure to
expand its brand awareness. Our goal is to cultivate consumers’ love for
Coca-Cola, and through this social media birthday party we felt that strong
intense love. The consumers have accepted us as a friend into their daily
lives.”

Other brands in the Coca-Cola family
such as Fanta posted their congratulations and 77 of the world’s most famous brands sent their best in a series of
creative posts. Google quoted the brand’s 1971 campaign “I’d Like to Buy the World
a Coke”; BMW’s Mini Cooper posted the image of a bottle containing a
Coca-Cola-styled Mini Cooper; Volkswagen, Cadillac and McDonald's also sent
exclusively designed posts.

Internet users even started a contest
to vote for Coca-Cola’s best friend from among these 77 brands, which resulted
in a massive viral effect. The party made headlines on marketing site ADQUAN and
Coca-Cola
acquired 6,725 posters and 9,488 interactions, contributing to 57,770,333 brand
impressions.

BMW created a customised poster to celebrate the 127th birthday of Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola itself launched an
interactive online activity on the day and tweeted a series of celebration
posts as well as thanks to all its well-wishers. It also took advantage of its
127th anniversary to announce its global commitment on Weibo.

“We know that the world today is quite
different from what it was 127 years ago. Everybody is eager to open happiness
and expect us to do more as well. At the special moment of Coca-Cola’s 127th
birthday, we globally announce four commitments on our business. We know that
we’re Coca-Cola and even more than that,” was the statement posted by The Coca-Cola
Company via
social media in China.

Scroll down to view a few of our fun graphics from the social media celebration.